


Take My Hand

by RansomNotes



Series: Happy Steve Bingo [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Happy Steve Bingo, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Super Soldier Serum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:33:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21680248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RansomNotes/pseuds/RansomNotes
Summary: Happy Steve Bingo 2019The Howling Commandos attack a suspected HYDRA base, and things get complicated, but Peggy won't leave for the rendezvous point without making sure Steve is safe. It might be a long, cold night, waiting for the dawn...
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers
Series: Happy Steve Bingo [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1561972
Comments: 3
Kudos: 43
Collections: Happy Steve Bingo 2019





	Take My Hand

The walls shuddered, and dust drifted down from the rafters, as the weaponry nearby shook the ground. Peggy kept to the shadows, as agreed, hand on the communicator, as agreed. Her other hand was on her Walther PPK, which was surely implied, if not explicitly agreed, and at any rate, the lads had another thing coming to them if they ever truly expected her to be entirely unarmed at any point.

Steve and the Howling Commandos had all stormed one of the main buildings at this suspected HYDRA drop zone, expected to be mostly empty if not outright abandoned. The rural area of supposed barns and other farm outbuildings wasn’t expected to be active or even occupied, according to intel, but just the same, she and Barnes were waiting outside, with Barnes in the treeline as the sniper, to keep watch for other activity.

Even if no one was on-site, and only limited HYDRA material present, Stark thought he might be able to better track HYDRA if they could seize any hidden long-term communications devices, or any other information or tech, and HQ didn’t think they could wait to predict the next HYDRA activity, so here they were, hoping for an easy mission but prepared for a humdinger, as always.

The underground weaponry was unexpected and concerning, and she and Barnes both quickly had plenty to do, shooting down the HYDRA members streaming out of a smaller outbuilding, which had been cleared as vacant before the main rush. That suggested hidden rooms, or possibly tunnels, then. The sniper shots weren't audible above the din of the other larger shots all around them, but she saw several of the approaching men expertly dropped, and while she disliked the half-hearted seduction offensive Sergeant Barnes had launched against her, she couldn’t argue with the man’s results. Besides, she understood how it felt to be jealous for Steve’s attention, if that was his motivation. She didn’t think Barnes meant anything by it, not really, but all the same, the way he was either trying to bother Steve into pursuing her, or bother Steve into dropping her, was frankly bothering _her._

Whatever Barnes' interpersonal aims, so far there was little enough to disrupt. There was tension between she and Steve, absolutely, as well as a warm friendship and deep respect, but whether from his shyness and near-mythic respect for women, or from her own intense independence and commitment to her career, they were both seemingly content to leave the boat unrocked. At this rate, they might hold hands in a few years, and perhaps even kiss in a decade, but it was manageable, though, an easy enough longing to shove into a box along with the fear she might feel over their daily risks. Steve seemed every bit as repressed and restricted as she could be, from her strict upbringing and personal resolve to be irreproachable in her work, and he from what sounded like a lifetime of having to prove himself and fight off time and inevitability as much as any outside commentary. Regardless, she had to intentionally keep her focus from being distracted by thoughts of their connection as Barnes skillfully cleared the area.

Once the flow of HYDRA back-up stopped, she kept her view shifting, looking for more motion in the growing twilight, with dust and smoke beginning to swirl between the buildings like a foreboding fog.

She heard pounding feet and swiveled around to the other side of the building, aiming carefully and dropping the last few of the HYDRA men, sprinting towards another building. From this angle, she could see only the light from what must the open bay doors, but she couldn’t see into the building itself. Every single enemy with line of sight had been rushing towards it, though, so she settled in and made them all pay for it dearly. Eventually the group from inside emerged, and she could see the Howling Commandos hurrying out, looking more harried and bloodied than she liked to see, but dragging along some bit of kit, which she knew Stark would be very keen to see, which made this a successful mission already. Steve wasn’t in the group yet though, and— 

She scouted for further movement before loping out to meet the group, Falsworth aiming at her and quickly away as he recognized her, and the rest of the lads motioning for her to hurry over to them. Crouched alongside the trucks, she didn’t even get the chance to ask before one of them blurted that Steve hadn’t made it out yet, which matched what she’d seen. They all stared back at the large building they’d run out of, and if she had to clear her throat before asking what had happened, no one acknowledged it.

“We found a whole mess of tunnels underneath, a baffling warren, and we got separated. You know how fast the man runs when he wants to. We overheard they might still have slave labor on-site, and the fighting was heating up, and he was worried they’d have a self-destruct here, too.”

Peggy chewed her lip silently in the dark as she considered their options, and half-heard the rest of the discussion. They’d snagged a few bits of kit, which Stark would no doubt be ecstatic about examining and hopefully reverse-engineering, but they all knew if there was a self-destruct setting, they were running out of time, and they were entirely too close to the base to be safe from an explosion.

After just another moment, she straightened a bit, and said, with all the confidence she could muster, “Right, well, our orders are to rendezvous at the spot up the road if we get separated at all, and to prioritize the extraction of any HYDRA technology. So you all must commandeer one of these supply trucks and leave, immediately.” Before they just question her place, she continued, “I know where Barnes is, from our earlier set-up, and no one’s seen him yet either, correct?” At all the negative replies, she nodded. “So, I’ll meet-up with Barnes, and we’ll maintain a watch for Captain Rogers at a minimum safe distance from a central blast. Take an extra truck and leave it just outside the expected blast radius, there’s a good lad, that way Barnes and I will have vehicular support if we...need it.” She didn’t need to spell out her concerns for both Barnes and Rogers and the possibility either or both was injured; they were both prone to sprinting up for extraction at the last moment, but the last moment had come and gone here, and they couldn’t linger any longer.

Whether they all believed her or simply accepted her higher rank, or were willing or even grateful to let her carry out her suspected real plan of hunting down Steve, no one questioned her, and with a few brief but serious shoulder pats and nods, they all bundled into the trucks and drove off. Peggy waited the barest moment before sprinting straight into the main building. Steve had never left anyone behind, and he wouldn’t want to endanger anyone now, but she’d be damned before she left him to die alone, even if she only accomplished dying with him and not a rescue.

The tunnels were full of pulsating warning lights, making the uneven dirt floors even more difficult to smoothly navigate, but she saw only bodies, and no one alive. The tunnels wound on, deeper and deeper, and quickly she paused, resolving to work smarter, not harder, and considered her location compared to the typical layout of the HYDRA bases they’d seen the interiors of. She retraced her steps almost back to the beginning, grateful for her internal sense of navigation, and set out to the southwest. She’d barely turned two corners before she took another and smacked straight into Steve. He looked like he’d heard her, of course, with his exceptional enhanced hearing, but he’d stayed in place and caught her rather than avoiding a collision, and she had barely enough time to consider that strange when she realized her hands and chest were covered in blood from where she’d collided with Steve. She looked at the fresh wet blood, and up at Steve, and he shook his head and carried on, catching her arm to tow her along, back the way she came.

“Steve, are you hurt?”

“Most of this isn’t my blood,” he said grimly, and she kept up as he raced through the tunnels, though she indicated the correct direction at each turn, whether or not he needed the assistance. As she tired, she realized how little he seemed to be adjusting his pace to hers, and under the next halo of light she looked him over again and swallowed as she saw how the spread of blood had widened on his uniform.

“Steve, do you-- are you--”

He cut her off. “We have to keep moving. The fail-safe...” His breathing sounded labored now, she thought, but he was right, he wouldn’t be any less at risk if he rested now, still within the tunnels of the base.

Finally they emerged, the twilight dark only slightly lighter than the pitch black of the tunnels, and Steve sagged back on the door jamb, just inside the building, letting her scout out their path. She had to force herself to focus only on the task at hand, and not let her worry for Steve smother her from the inside. 

“Right, the lads were aiming to leave a truck over that way for us, but--” She looked back to catch Steve’s eyes, but he was leaning heavily against the wall, head tilted back, and eyes closed. She cleared her throat and continued. “It looks like there’s flames of some sort over there, and I’d wager it’s not the safest option, if in fact there’s a vehicle leftover for us.”

She looked around again, and crouched in the doorway, debating.    
“Well, then, let’s go, Steve. A pleasant evening jaunt, yes? I think our best bet is northwest, and we’ll simply have to wait for--” She avoided saying ‘medical attention,’ but only just. “--For extraction. Ready, then?”

He heaved himself upright as she tugged on his shoulder, and she was struck, once again, by the sheer size difference Erskine had accomplished. She and the Steve she’d first met were nearly comparable in size, and she might well have been able to carry him off on her own, if necessary, but supersoldier Steve was as immovable as a mountain, and she was grateful for that indomitable spark at his heart that kept him moving even as she saw how sickly pale and gray his face was. She hadn’t noticed when they’d been running, but pausing here, she felt actual panic battering around in her ribs like a gaggle of geese. He leaned too much of his weight on her, and she staggered to help support him through the smoky and dusty dimness between the buildings. She saw no one alive, thankfully, as their entire focus had narrowed to keeping Steve moving, and their progress slowed even more in the forest, with the uneven ground and fallen branches. 

_ One foot after another, Carter _ , she thought to herself, and kept a tally of their distance. Once they were probably outside the blast radius, and Steve was still staggering woodenly along with her, she looked hastily for a place to hide. She guided him to a rough cave shape, from a collection of rocks in a dense area of the forest, and he fell more than sat into the shallow space. They’d made good time, even with how visibly he was struggling, and she gathered branches to roughly smooth their tracks, and pile like a lean-to against the open wall of the cave. 

There were several muted booms from the area of the camp, behind them, which might have been smaller linked self-destruct bombs, or might have been signs of further HYDRA activity on-site, and either way, with Steve injured, they needed to hole up and wait a bit before anything else.

After she’d hurriedly gathered enough branches to cover them, she tucked herself into the opening next to Steve. He was breathing shallowly, and his uniform was entirely soaked in blood, and she clenched her jaw, hard, trying to gain control over her fears.  _ Stiff upper lip, Pegs _ , she imagined her father saying to her. The truth was, Steve would die or he wouldn’t, and she’d done all she could do at this point. His uniform was tight enough, and the air was cold enough, that any sort of examination or re-wrapping of the wounds would likely be more harm than help, especially with the wild card of the serum hopefully speeding his recovery, so she tucked herself up against him, trying to share her warmth, and kept one hand on her gun, and the other on Steve’s wrist. 

His hand was freezing; what she’d most noticed, since the serum, aside from that impressive and indomitable jawline, was his perpetual warmth. He was a furnace, usually, but he felt cold beside her, and her heart felt colder to realize it. She tried to press closer without jostling his injuries. If a larger self-destruct was going to go off at all, it would likely be soon, and the Commandos weren’t supposed to backtrack for them until the meeting time at the rendezvous point had passed, several hours from now. She checked her watch, and decided to try to catch the three hours of sleep they might be able to manage before they’d need to make decisions. Well. Before she’d need to make some difficult decisions. She couldn’t bear the idea of leaving him here, possibly to die alone, but if he was to have any chance of survival, she’d need to at least try to get help. If she could only just maneuver them closer to the meeting point-- but Steve was on death’s door as it was, and all the forced motion had been a necessary evil of their escape, but she didn’t think he could survive another rushed march like that. Honestly, with as much as she’d been supporting his not-inconsiderable weight, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to manage it again either.

She snuggled her head on his shoulder, curved around him as much as she could manage, and tried to shove down her worry and angst for the night at least. She drifted off, slowly and muzzily, to wait for the dawn, and postpone her panic, just a bit longer.

* * *

When she snapped awake, a few hours later, it took a moment to catalog what had woken her.

She was cold and stiff, leaned against the rock walls of the cave. Her eyes were gritty and tired from the long hours and strain of darkness last night, and the sheets of smoke they’d weaved their way through, followed by limited sleep. Her shoulders ached from supporting Steve as much as she’d been able, and her jaw was tight from tension and worry.

Steve!

She whipped her head to the side to see how he was doing, and was stunned speechless to see him calmly looking back at her, warm and alive.  He tightened his grip on her hand again, and she realized she must’ve woken up when he’d moved.

She shifted around as much as she could in the cramped space, trying to look directly at him, and felt tears stinging her eyes at the healthy glow back in his skin, how clear his gaze was, the warmth of him all alongside her. She felt her face crumpling, her eyes scrunched shut, and he tipped his forehead against hers, his breath warm and steady on her face. 

All the fear she’d stifled down the night before came flooding back, like cattle trampling the person at the gate once it had been finally flung open. He brought his other hand up to cup her cheek, and she sighed and tried to calm down.

“Peggy, are you alright?”

“Am I alr-- oh, Steve, I’m wonderful now. Tip top!” She’d managed to meet his eyes now. “You gave me such a fright last night, I’m so relieved you’re better now. You are better now, aren’t you? Oh, but Steve, there was so much blood, and you were so pale, I was worried sick.”

Steve’s grin was rueful and apologetic. “I’m fine, I really am fine. Not that it’s a record I want to beat, because I’ll admit I’m feeling the hangover from it now, but good to know the serum can handle 3 gunshots.”

“Three?!” She gasped, and Steve winced.

“I, ah, guess we didn’t get into specifics yesterday. But look, I’m fine, I’m here, I can feel it’s almost all knit back together already.”

Peggy had sunk her head in her hands. “Steeeeeeeve, my God, you reckless--”

He grabbed her hands and kissed them, and she huffed at him.

“Peggy, by the way, my memories are a little murky--” he ignored her aggrieved groan, “but do you know what happened to my shield?”

Her head popped up at that, and she grimaced. “No, oh dear, I can’t even remember if you had it when I first ran into you in the tunnels. If you did, it must’ve been on your back, your hands were-- well, bloodsoaked, and that’s not a memory that I’m likely to forget, however well you’re recovered now.”

He clunked his head back against the rock and sighed deeply. “I know it’s not really rational, but it feels like I left a part of me back there somewhere. That shield has just been such a part of me learning to fight, in this new body, it feels like a missing limb.”

They sat for a moment in silence, and then she said. “You know, the Spartans used to say, come back with your shield or on it, have you heard that? If you left your shield behind, it meant you had dropped the extra weight and fled, given up. Because otherwise, they carried home their shields, and they carried the dead home on top of their own shields.”

Steve’s face was pained. “That’s not much of a pep talk, Peggy.”

She bumped her shoulder against his. “Well, what I meant is, I’d say you fulfilled the spirit of the saying: you were the last one to leave, and you didn’t give up, you never give up. If anything, it’s more like  _ you’re _ our shield, and I’m very relieved to not be going home without you.”

“Thanks. Me too.” He tilted his head to lean against hers again. “We’d better get going though, speaking of home, right?”

She just started to nod when they heard rustling in the underbrush of the forest near them, and Peggy tensed, eyes wide.

Before Steve could say anything, she heard Sergeant Barnes voice. “We had a devil of a time tracking you this morning! Good thing you snore, Stevie. Didja go and die on me yet, or are you saving that for a more dramatic moment?”

Steve rolled his eyes and helped Peggy to start shoving through the piled up branches, to get out of the cave. 

“Yeah, yeah, Buck, maybe I just needed some time away from you, huh?”

He and Peggy emerged, blinking in the pale early morning light.

“Well, if that’s the way of it, maybe I’ll just keep this for myself, whaddya say about that?” Bucky stepped forward and handed Steve his shield, and they hugged each other fiercely for a moment. “You’ll be thrilled to hear, Agent Carter,” Bucky said with a smirking drawl, “that everyone obeyed orders for all of a half hour or so, and then we all came traipsing back here to find you two. The shield was down along your tracks back there a ways. I guess Cap had better things to do with his hands than hang on to it. Anyway, hope the honeymoon was swell, but are you two ready to get back in the fight?”

Peggy pursed her lips, trying to summon up her usual irritation for his constant flirting and teasing, but could only find relief. She turned to Steve, and reached out to hold his hand for a moment, grateful to have him here, and alive, against all odds, with even his buddy and his shield back at his side. She shot him a quick smile, trying to pour all her happiness and affection into the look, and started to pull away. Steve had met her eyes, and his face settled into the stubbornly resolved look she knew and loved, and he tugged her over, and pulled up the shield to kiss her behind it, hidden away from Bucky and any of the other Commandos close enough to see. She smiled into the kiss, as intense as it was brief, and stepped out from behind the shield, commanding veneer back in place as she straightened her outfit and patted her hair. 

“Well, then, Barnes? Something amusing you?” She smirked back at him as she walked quickly past. “Hup to, let’s go, man, we’re waiting on you.”


End file.
